Race Reports

Hahaha. You did scare her!! I'm pretty sure I wouldn't worry about someone I'd seen running for 9 months, but then again, maybe she'd just watched Walking Dead the night before. You never know what's going on in someone's head.

She woke up one morning and threw away all her excuses... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Life is short. Never be your own buzzkill.

That's funny you say that. I should start out by saying that I'm not a vampire. This park I run in is pretty much dead before the sun comes up. Many years ago, every time I ran in this park, I would always meet this woman runner going the opposite direction. We were fairly regimented in our times and I knew pretty much when I'd meet her in the 2.1 mile oval course in the park. So, for over a 9 month period, I came to expect to see this runner and it was the norm. I rarely missed a run on Tuesdays and Thursdays and most times we blew bye one another. For same strange reason, one dark morning, okay, they were all dark because it was 5 in the morning, I reached out my hand as in "low five kinderd spirits." She did not give me a passing low five and I never saw her after that. Maybe I freaked her out, I don't know what do you think?

I am both uplifted and humbled through running. There is something very theraputic about the rhythm, the time reflecting, and the racing heart. It fills my life with euphoria and pain. As I run my journey, I try to embrace both.

I wish I could run by myself in the morning. I love morning runs. But I am afraid of vampires. No joke. I know they're not real, but they creep me out. I've finally talked my husband into running, so maybe by next year he'll do early morning runs with me.

She woke up one morning and threw away all her excuses... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Life is short. Never be your own buzzkill.

BRIGUY-25 minute 5K is what, less than 8 minute miles sustained! Well, that's a great goal, do you plan on doing any speedwork? 800s or repeat 1 milers are tough but pay big dividends. I only run three times a week also. I do my 800s on Monday night, a fartlek 6 miler on Thursday mornings and an 8 miler on Saturdays that is basically a 2 mile warm up, a simulated 5K, then another 2 mile cool down. Wake up, repeat, rest, wake up, repeat, ... .... hehe this morning I was out there at 4am under the full moon, not another soul in the park, just me and my cadence and the fall air, priceless.

I am both uplifted and humbled through running. There is something very theraputic about the rhythm, the time reflecting, and the racing heart. It fills my life with euphoria and pain. As I run my journey, I try to embrace both.

haha! It looks like a lot of threads on Spark are dead...except the ones like "Post Wheel Points...."

Anyways, I started training about 3 months ago. I didn't follow a specific plan. My goal was to get out about 3 times each week and increase my distance every couple of weeks, and then on the shorter runs looked to reduce my time. I did get out and run 6 or more miles a few times before the race. I made sure that I was also running on hills since I knew the course I would be on was hilly. My longest run during my training was 7.3 miles. I did a couple of fartlek or interval runs on hills.

Good luck with your training for the 5k! My next goal is to complete a 5k in under 25 minutes.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." ~Hebrews 12:1-2

I ran the Monumental Marathon Saturday. It was so, so cold outside!!! My training hadn't been the best, so I was worried that I would crash and burn. I actually did NOT crash and burn! I had a 35 minute PR!! My report is on my sparkblog.

She woke up one morning and threw away all her excuses... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Life is short. Never be your own buzzkill.

Wow, someone reporting their race, awesome! and I thought this site was dead. hehe Its a good feeling, a validation of your training, when you run as expected. So, how many races are in this series and do they each get longer until its a full marathon, is that how it works? So, I'm curious about your training and would like to know how many times did you practice running a 10K before this one? I'm focused on my 5K times currently and basically run a 5K course every Saturday. My times keep coming down, so I know I'm on the right track. My times validate the training I'm going through and motivates me to go harder the next week.

I am both uplifted and humbled through running. There is something very theraputic about the rhythm, the time reflecting, and the racing heart. It fills my life with euphoria and pain. As I run my journey, I try to embrace both.

I ran the Old Reliable 10k yesterday. It's part of the City of Oaks Marathon series in Raleigh, NC. I set a PR at 55:05. I had set my goal to finish in 55 minutes and was only 5 seconds off. I'm very happy with my results and look forward to the next race.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." ~Hebrews 12:1-2

Did a 5K for the Ronald McDonald House. Ran 34 minutes and something.....My HM buddy and I did a 10K on our own prior to this one. Really fun because we ran the 5K with our friend - he had heart surgery this time last year - it was his first 5K and he ran the whole thing and came in 13th in his age group. HM coming up on Mother's Day. eeek!

There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle. Albert Einstein

I ran the Seaside Half Marathon in Ventura on Sunday. For an out and back course, you couldn't do much better. It followed the bike paths from the beach front and then along Rte.1 up the coast. You could watch surfers almost the whole way. It was well run and I have nothing but good things to say about the race. Even the parking situation wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be (I left before 10:00 and they didn't charge me anything at the lot.)

I was injured in my last race, and only really got back into training three weeks ago, but I had already paid so I decided to see how I would do. Not great. I need to run some shorter races to get my confidence back.

We haven't been using this thread lately (maybe due to frigid temps??), but we don't need to forget about it. I ran a 5 miler on New Years day. It was my comeback race after a year of fractured tibial plateau and a torn meniscus (surgery required). It was nowhere need the speed I once was, but it was as strong as I wanted to be. It was a good race.

She woke up one morning and threw away all her excuses... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Life is short. Never be your own buzzkill.

Ran the Baltimore 5K Saturday in 30:56. Not a PR but not a bad time for how little I've been road running lately. I think I could have been up to a full minute faster if there hadn't been a *ton* of walkers who had started ahead of me and were walking 4 across in the middle of the road. I have nothing against people walking races but at least be considerate of faster participants and start at the back, stick to the sides, and don't walk in groups of more than 2 across. Dodging around all of them for the first mile was not fun.

Ran my first half marathon yesterday in Ocean City, NJ. Not only did I not stop running (no walk breaks) but I actually beat other racers in my age group! I've run a couple of 5ks, and finished dead last in my age group both times. My time for the race was 2:21:41, which would have been unfathomable for me a couple of years ago.

I hated running--and sports, really, but I did get into athletics in junior high school because it was better than regular old P.E. But then, in high school, I only had to take one year of P.E. so I got that over with and quit sporty stuff for ever. I mean, I was in dance classes, but that was different. Very different.

When I was in my 20s and had access to an on-campus INDOOR track, I started walking a bit, and at one point, I thought, I'd better go ahead and start running, just to get my heart rate really up. (It made that after-workout cigarette that much better!) I started out running the curves of the track, and I ended up getting stress fractures in both legs, making it hard to walk for several months, painful for more than a year, and... well, my ankles still both carry fluid from that fiasco.

Fast forward several years, and I'm back to not getting my heart rate up with walking anymore. I've learned, by this point, about interval training, and I've seen success for those who followed the C25K-of-some-variety program, and I've read up on the program.

And I think, "Nah. If I can hurt myself so badly when I'm in my 20s, how much worse can I hurt myself in my 30s?" So I don't...

until the day I decide to go ahead and try, just for a little bit.

I try, and I try, and I try, and I don't know how people do it. Then, one day, I stop trying so hard. I run more slowly--like, walking speed. I concentrate on controlling my breathing, because that's what's really made it hard, was getting out of breath. And then I try, and I try, and I try.

I do a few 5Ks, and I enjoy them, even if I'm near the end, taking more breaks to walk than chances to run. I start running a little longer, now that breathing is easier and I've figured out (and read) that going slow doesn't hurt anything, and I decide to work on stamina first, speed later. I finally even get to a point where I don't have to think about my breathing, and I don't have to push myself... I run (no matter how slowly) until I NEED a break.

And yesterday, I ran a whole 5K for the first time ever! I really did! Yay, and WooHOO!

MommaCassey Central Standard Time

Walkers, Runners, Joggers & Gadgeters Winter 2015 5% Challenge!

"I'm not a pickle! I'm a cucumber." ~Larry

"Every moment of one's existence one is growing into more or retreating into less. One is always living a little more or dying a little bit." ~~Norman Mailer

Completed my first timed 5k! Run for the Lakes. The weather was great with a few hills on the course. Unfortunately, it was also muddy so I felt my feet slip a bit on one of the hills. Finished in 28:17.

American Odyssey Relay - ran 200 miles from Gettysburg to Washington DC as part of a 12 man team starting Friday morning and ending yesterday! It was awesome, blog posts here and more to come! wp.me/p1N36Q-6l

Signed up for the Star Wars Dark Side Challenge on April 17, 2016 - and have a goal to run the half-marathon in under 2:00:00. Can I use the Force to shave one minute/mile off my current pace? Find out here:

Sole of the City 10k in Baltimore 4/20/2013. Morning was a bit brisk but sun was out by the time we lined up at the start line. I had a hope of breaking 1:00 but bad stomach cramps in miles 2 and 3 slowed me down. Final time: 1:04 and change.

I'd totally do this race again. The course is nicely laid out through the Inner Harbor and the Federal Hill neighborhood. Some fun and not so fun hills (a 15% slope in the last half mile...evil). Totally awesome embroidered Underarmor jacket for the premium.

Run Your Heart Out 5k race on April 20th. Weather was cold! There were a few ice patches too. Not how I envisioned running my first 5k at the end of April but it was good. My 10 month old had been sick so I didn't get much sleep the night before the race.

My pace suffered due to the weather and lack of sleep but I still managed to finish in 37:25

Signed up for the Star Wars Dark Side Challenge on April 17, 2016 - and have a goal to run the half-marathon in under 2:00:00. Can I use the Force to shave one minute/mile off my current pace? Find out here:

5K Santa Run in the snow. Very appropriate weather but not the greatest for running in. 5th out of 17 with a time of 28 minutes something... I would expect to break 25 minutes on that course under normal conditions, but on snow I'm happy with that. (The winning time this year was about three minutes slower than last year, and it was the same winner.) I seem to have a niche at the moment where I can outrun the elite females, but I'm still quite a way off being elite for a male. (When I say "elite", of course what I really mean is the best runners who do the sort of small races I do. The serious elite probably concentrate on the bigger races so I wouldn't be up against them anyway. The real elite women would leave me far behind.)

This race happens every year on Thanksgiving morning, it helps our local homeless shelter. I ran the 5K this year with my husband, it was a beautiful morning with higher than normal temps and I was so impressed with the number of people who showed up. I did not run my best time, nor did I try. This was the first 5K for my husband so I just ran with him and a friend and enjoyed the event. We are both looking forward to this race next year!

I love this race for the atmosphere. Everyone is in a good mood. There are always a number of people wearing silly costumes and all times are unofficial so its not crazy competitive. Course is pretty flat and very scenic. I've done this race 3x!

Ran North Face Endurance Challenge Kansas City Half Today! Wow this was a doozie! Official Results: 1:51 29 seconds away from an age group award! 4th in my age group out of 42 64th female out of 493 183 out of 841 overall Blog Posted! Karen

Yay! I want to do a Beat Beethoven! I think there's only been one in the UK so far and I'd love to organise the second. I'm doing a charity challenge over 50 days next spring and I'm thinking that would make a great finale.

I did a 3K race today, so only a short one but it was quite good fun. Again I found that pretty quickly I ended up running on my own, a long distance between me and the person in front, and another long distance to the person behind. I'd like more of an actual *race*, really - I'm paying to run with a load of other people but it doesn't really happen. After the first half a kilometre I'm just running solo. Anyway, I did 14:32, and it was a weak enough field for that to secure me third place. So I'm happy with that.

I ran Twin Cities Marathon last Sunday with a time of 4:14. See blog if you want details! My next races are: 11-10-12 Beat Beethoven 5K (Try to run a 5K before the end of Beethoven's 5th!) Quincy, IL 11-17-12 North Face Half Marathon Kansas City, MO 11-22-12 YMCA Turkey Run 10K Quincy, IL 12-1-12 Ring the Bell Run Salvation Army Quincy, IL

This morning as part of a Triathlon Training Camp weekend I am completing I ran the Mississippi River Run10K in Hannibal MO. My time was not what I was shooting for but this is a VERY hilly course and I did take 1 minute 30 off my time when I ran this race in 2009. So, I did live up to my motto: "Older, Lighter, Faster." My time was 52:51 an 8:31 pace. I got a medal as the second masters female and was 23rd overall. I am pleased.

I ran my 4th 5k on Friday night... Tough run! It was a trail run, but probably half of it was on city streets and a road that ran through a cemetery and then a park. There were over 900 runners, 200+ under the age of 14! It was very frustrating because most of them were messing around and to be quite honest, under foot. All 900+ of us had to go through a 1 person sized opening in a split rail fence! DOH! Yup, had to wait my turn for that! The trail portion was on the side of a hill with roots and rocks...lol! It was crazy! However: My 5k time: 29:15.7 14th of 54 in the 40-44 Age Group (Yay me!!) 314th of 705 Overall (Yay me, again!) My personal goal...to be in the top 50% and under 30 minutes! Not too bad for someone that has been running for 3 months! Ha!!

Today I completed my second 5K ever, and I managed to run the WHOLE thing, despite the temperature being in the eighties with a humidity of 62%. My time was 32:56, a record for me, and I ranked in the top half of both my age group (20-24) AND overall. I'm super happy about the whole experience.

You were brave! We looked at the dinner crowd at CBS and bailed. :) Ended up going up route 1 to find something to eat. I think it was one of the best organized races I've done, though. I'll definitely do it again.

Jeckie (aka. Sarah) - Lowell, MA - EST Half Fanatic #3032

I have no "goal weight". MY goal is to be as healthy, strong and active as I can be. This isn't about my relationship with the scale but my relationship with the world.

Looking for recipes? I keep a Paleo-friendly recipe board on Pinterest! http://pinterest.com/jeckie/mostly-paleo/

Nice work JECKIE! Big deal on the time. YOU DID IT. It was HOT HOT HOT! I also thought challenging course- although most of it was flat- it really did not feel like it. I never felt comfortable the entire race. On the other side of it though, thought the race was well organized, GREAT chip timing at the start AND finish, great freebies,and overall never felt stressed- even though there were quite a few runners and walkers out for this. I would definitely do this again. I even brought a change of clothes and was daring- changed in the port o- potty-WAY away by the movie theatre side. It was actually clean, and I just quickly slipped on this cute easy dress, sprayed my hair, wiped my sweat off, and went out. Did the wine tasting at Tastings, had dinner there, and then checked out Toby Keith's bar. We had a margarita. I also caught the fireworks ! FUN ... Congrats girl!

I also ran the Gillette 10K. My time was no where near Marli's. ;) I came in at 1:27 (slower than my norm - I was helping a friend). It was ridiculously hot, and it took us 12 minutes to get TO the start line after the gun went off.

It was cool to hang out on the field afterward, though!

Jeckie (aka. Sarah) - Lowell, MA - EST Half Fanatic #3032

I have no "goal weight". MY goal is to be as healthy, strong and active as I can be. This isn't about my relationship with the scale but my relationship with the world.

Looking for recipes? I keep a Paleo-friendly recipe board on Pinterest! http://pinterest.com/jeckie/mostly-paleo/

Ran the Gillette Race to the 50 10k. 48 flat- not a pr but close. Was 315th out of 2900, 11th out of 390 in my division. Not sure # female overall. Good pace but felt awful running it. The entire time pretty much. HOT, and just went out too fast as usual. Got trapped too far back. Oh well-loved the race experience and would do again!

SparkPeople, SparkCoach, SparkPages, SparkPoints, SparkDiet, SparkAmerica, SparkRecipes, DailySpark, and other marks are trademarks of SparkPeople, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No portion of this website can be used without the permission of SparkPeople or its authorized affiliates.
SPARKPEOPLE is a registered trademark of SparkPeople, Inc. in the United States, European Union, Canada, and Australia. All rights reserved.

NOTE: Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy last updated on October 25, 2013